Advantages

Disadvantages

A great phone for those people who wants a mobile to call people.

I have had this phone for over a year now and have not looked back, It litterally does everything that i need it to do and more.

I've always loved Samsung makes of items and so i thought well lets try the phone. To be honest though the style wasn't really exciting but i wanted a phone with both touch and buttons, cause i cannot stand phones that dont have buttons (my preference).

The buttons are really easy to use and feel nice to the touch, the camera whilst is not the highest pixels is adequate when caught out without a camera and the phone holds it charge. I do not have to charge it for at least 5 days at a time and that is constantly on with bluetooth activated.

Its very durable as well since i am a clumsy person and have dropped it numerous times and it still works perfectly.

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

I say buy a phone which won't annoy you, unless someone is giving you this for free, as in my case

I have been using this phone for a few months now since my very old Sony Ericsson k800i died (probably the best and most reliable phone I have ever owned!). Though it is fine in the sense that it is a phone and can make calls in the place of my recently-deceased phone, there are so many things which annoy me about it.

I understand that this handset appeared during the transitional period between button operated and touch screen, thus the integration of the touch pad. However, they don't co-operate seamlessly in my opinion. The touch-pad slows down operations and can be overly sensitive to commands you didn't even issue! It is pretty small as well, so unless you have twigs for fingers, you are going to end up pressing the wrong icon a lot of the time.

Not only is the touchpad slow, but the phone in general is really sluggish, especially when you are navigating your way through old messages - it can take forever! This also frequently means that you over or under-press the navigation buttons and end up selecting the wrong message or contact in anticipation. It also takes ages to respond to the hang-up button, so if you decide at the last moment to cancel a call, it may not end before the call connects, which is annoying.

Now to messaging. I have taken to using predictive texting with this phone, as the buttons are so loud that I can only cope if I minimise the number of clicks in each message. However, the dictionary only selectively remembers words, no matter how many times i spell 'freaking' and save it in the dictionary, it NEVER remembers it. I have also had zero success if finding brackets writing texts, obviously Samsung just forgot that people use brackets quite often as a form of punctuation. There is also no way of deleting chunks of text quickly without deleting the whole text or pressing 'c' over and over again. The phone also has a miserable capacity for messages - I can only fit about 150 in the inbox before I have to delete some, which is pitiful and annoying.

The contacts have also transferred to this phone in a really strange form i.e. surname first, with a number after it and no easy option to select multiple numbers for the same contact.

So there are lots of design flaws in this phone, but this is only according to my opinion. There are good things too.

The camera is pretty good for quite an old phone, pictures are clear and sharp in good light, though they do take a while to capture. I also like the firmware design, which is simply laid out and looks cool. The general design of the handset itself is also quite nice, a sleek finish, compact shape and it slides really smoothly.

However, the several annoyances I have cited for this phone are too many to have a positive view on it. There are so many glaringly obvious flaws and irritating limitations that I can't help but wish I had any other phone - but alas my upgrade is not for a while and my Dad had this one spare. I am no telecoms expert, and perhaps many people disagree with me, but I cannot understand why some many people would choose this phone, perhaps having failed to try it or do the research, over so many more functionally superior handsets - including my poor, poor k800i.

Comments

Advantages

Reliability

Disadvantages

A good phone that will last a long time

I have had my Samsung U900 (soul) for 18months now and there are many things that I love about it. Firstly I have been amazed about how reliable it is, even though I have had it for a long time now it is almost in full good working order. The small touch screen on the front of the phone I think it a great feature and is also very strong unlike quite a few other touch screen phones I have known. The icons on this screen change when appropriate to what feature is being used and also can be changed by the owner so that it acts as a shortcut to features on the phone. Another cool feature about this is the fact that the icons and the touch sensor around it can change colour which is a nice accessory. On the other hand within a month of me getting this phone it looked like I had had it about a year, because even though I was very careful with it the outside and especially the back got very scratched, and even though you can buy new backs for them I would suggest keeping it in a case to avoid this. Another annoying feature about this phone is the fact that it doesn't have a lot of memory space for text messages especially because it will get full up after about 200 texts in your inbox. I have also found that the phone in general is very slow, again especially when scrolling though text messages. One thing that I do love about this phone is the fact that it has such a big screen and its attention to detail.

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

Recommneded

I got this phone about six months ago as an upgrade from the Samsung U600. On THE whole I have been very pleased with it. It is a good looking phone and the additional touch screen pad is just enough for me as I find the phones with a whole touch screen too much. However, after three months, a vertical lime green line has appeared down the touch screen pad, after no apparent damage/dropping etc, which does ruin its appearance somewhat! The camera is brilliant, at 5MP and takes fantastic landscape shots and also has a panoramic function which, with a little practise works well. Photos in low lighting, however, come out very grainy as the flash is not very good. This phone has a brilliant memory and can store hundreds of photos at a time- Ive hardly had to delete any! (and I use it as my primary camera!)On the whole I would recommend this phone as a good 'modern/hi-tech' phone, without having to go the whole way to an I-phone or similar with full touchscreen.

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

Nice phone to use overall, but needs upgrading after one year only

I have had this phone for just over one year now and although I was pleased at first with functions etc, I am less impressed with its durability. The interface is very nice, particularly the touch-screen function, and there are lots of choices for settings and appearance. However I am yet to find a ringtone which isn't annoying, so constantly have it on vibrate only which is not ideal. I had hoped that this phone would have the vivid text feature some other Samsung models have, but it lacks this, which is a shame. Over the last couple of months, the phone has started to show definite signs of wear and tear - it turns itself off quite a lot and one of the buttons sometimes doesn't work. So overall this hasn't been a winner for me - it was my first samsung and suspect I will be returning to Nokia next time!

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

A very good phone at a reasonable price

I have had the Samsung SGH-U900 (or Samsung Soul as it is also called) for a month now and so far I am really enjoying it as a phone. I had read some negative reviews about thne battery life but actually it has been fine, better than some previous phones that I've had and I am only charging it about every 3-4 days. The sound quality is really good - it is easy to hear the people you are talking to. I am also really impressed with the camera, the photo quality is excellent and I am using it to take photos far more often than with my previous phone. The sound quality of the music player is also really good, although I have an iPod so have just listened to the radio through my phone a couple of time. The internet connection is also fair;y fast through 3G+. The only reservations I would have are with the free games as you can't play very much before it says you need to buy the full version, and that the touchscreen is not sensitive enough to let you make calls with gloves on (a minus point in the recent cold weather).

Comments

Advantages

Reliability

Disadvantages

Overall a excellent phone

I recently spent a lot of time researching mobile phones as there are so many to pick from I was unsure which was the best to get, after a lot of time I decided on the U900. Even though I only had this phone for a short while but it was one of the best phones I have ever owned, its very stylish (looks fantastic), very easy to use & got a excellent camera on it (which is better quality than my digital camera)! You only get demo games on it but you can download loads more for it. I think this phone now comes in three different colours, black, silver & pink, I have the black version which I loved but the silver is also very striking. The only reason I got rid of this phone was because the network I was on had very poor coverage in my area & the new network did not offer this as a free phone which I was very gutted about. Over all O would recommend this phone to everyone.

Comments

Advantages

Reliability

Disadvantages

Highly recommended!

I bought my Samsung phone three months ago and I have been quite impressed with it. The phone itself is light and very slim so easy to carry around in your pocket or bag. It is easy to navigate around and has all of the typical features that you would expect on a modern phone plus many more. I am particularly impressed by the radio as on previous phone I have never been able to get a signal for the radio, this phone picks up signal for about 5 stations where I live and automatically retunes as you are moving so that you stay on the same radio station. I am not sure what the exact memory is but it seems to store a lot of photos and text messages. The camera quality is fantastic although in some situations the flash can be a bit too bright. I think it is a fantastic phone and would highly recommend it!

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

Gorgeous, sleek, classy phone

I have just upgraded and decided to get the samsung soul and im glad i did, this phone oozes class and sophistication, its gorgeous, the camera is a desent MP and gives great video quality aswell.The memory is pretty good, without a memory card as well as a normal memory card and the graphics are good.The only downside i can think of is the sound quality isnt as loud as other samsungs i have had, but apart from that, the phone is pretty perfect.The design and shape of the phone is perfect, samsung have really done themselves proud with this phone, everything is set out to make life easier for you, the touch screen can have different colour and shade settings and you can make your own theme so the phone can effectively reflect your mood.Definetly one of samsungs more classier phones!! Dont want to get rid of this phone!

Comments

Advantages

Reliability

Disadvantages

Really good looking, thats easy to use with lots of great features, also can take great camera pictu

I have always had samsung phones, so was really excited to get this new model. I got the graphite coloured model, and its a good looking phone. The number buttons are quite big and I find it easy to press them, don't hit other keys at the same time. the model is a sliding phone, but I find when I slide it I knock the touch pad and always set something off. The sensitivity of the touch pad can be changed which did help, but still find the pad hard to work, but guess I will get used to it as I use it more. The menus are all standard Samsung ones, easy to navigate about. Camera is good too, takes really high quality pictures and again is very easy to use, you hold the phone more like an actual camera. There are 3 games as standard on the phone but you can only use them for a few minutes then you are prompted to download the real version for a cost, this is a bit dissapointing. Also the tunes, wallpapers etc that are on the phone as standard arent very good, but will end up using my own.

Comments

Advantages

Reliability

Disadvantages

Very good phone

Even though I have had numerous mobile phones over the years, I have never had a samsung! This model was my first as I have tried all other handsets and they seem to break down after a while. Well not this one. I have to say that there are good and bad points to it. I don't really like the interface for the jukebox mode on it, i find it difficult to use. Also there isn't a light function, which I've had previously and found to be very helpful. There aren't any games with this handset either, which is a bit disappointing. However overall I really like this phone. It is really easy to use and the touch screen element speeds up the general use of it. I am a high volume texter and this phone is very easy to use for this, and the keypad is very well laid out and I don't get cramp when texting for a long time compared to when I've used other handsets. The battery lasts for 3 days which I consider very reasonable considering how much I use it, and charge time is very quick. It holds signal well but sometimes calls seem to echo but I haven't established if this is my handset or the other people I'm talking to. The handset isn't heavy but it is very well built and I think it can stand up to a lot. Overall a very good phone and I would definitely look at Samsungs again!

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

Check it out before you commit. Its a love it or hate it phone.

The main thing you think of when you actually see this phone is wow that looks like a really cool phone.

Having bee with the Samsung model for several years now I decided to upgrade my U600 to the U900 which I received last week.

On first taking it out of the box it looks quite big compared to that of previous models. I got the midnight version of the phone which is basically the all black version.

The phone itself as you will soon find out after you put the battery in is rather heavy which is quite annoying and awkward especially for texting with one hand.

Once you get the phone actually switched on I wont deny it does look pretty jazzy and upon inspection is quite full with features however if you have already had previous samsung phones dont expect too many changes rather than a few upgrades here and there.

The main focal point of the phone is the touchpad menu screen which was the phones selling point. Unfortunately I have to say the hype has gotton the better of this phone. It is pretty cool that you can actually change the colour of the icons on the touchpad but apart from that its nothing special. We were told that the icons change depending on what menu screen you are in. I can tell you first hand that they change to arrows and thats about it. Big Deal. You still need to press some of the nomal buttons to get back out of the menu's so its not like they have went up and beyond with this phone.

The 5 megapixel camera in my opinion just doesn't feel right and when you some right in the quality is shocking.

The phone itself looks like it will scracth very easily although if you keep it in your pocket you should never have a problem with losing it as you can tell its there due to the weight of it.

The major annoyance that forced me to return it however though was the volume of the phone. Having cool ringtones is a waste of time as the phone just is not loud enough to hear them in a public place and as for the call volume itself I kept founding myself saying "What, What" as I could barely hear what my mate was saying and likewise for him. And yes the volume was turned all the way up.

The phone does look good but thats about it. I was really annoyed as I have loved the samsung models over the last several years but after using this one for a couple of days I gave orange a call and told them I was not satisfied with the phone and wanted to return it.

I am now making the jump to the unknown and switching over to Sony. I have enjoyed Samsung but after this latest model it seems like what they have improved did not need to be improved and they may be getting left behind if they dont pull off something big for their next model.

I reccomend you actually go to the shop and try this out before you buy it.

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

Overall a really super phone

The Samsung U-900 really is a very good phone. I had it bought as a present as I wanted a mobile with a really good camera. This phone has a 5 million mega pixel camera which in my eyes provides excellent quality prints.The rest of the phone is very good too. The touch screen can be cusomised to whatever suits you.One feature worth noting is the generous amount of internal memory (100 Mbytes), as well as the option to add a microSD memory card (which I have due to the amount of photos of my kids I take!!) It also has the other standard features such as email, document viewer, Bluetooth, offline mode.It also has fast 3G with download speeds of up to 7.2 Mbps if thats what you use your fone for!So, overall I think that it really is a fabulous phone, and I love it to bits!

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

Overall this phone is worth the money!

This phone is truly amazing. Its touch sensitive screen is not to sensitive but can be adjusted to your liking. It is fully customisable unlike other Samsung phones, as you can create your own themes usin the guides to help you. You can also change the colour of the touch screen pad and make it your own. Its camera is amazing and takes a great picture all of the time. It has good sound quality and on other reviews people state that the ringtone is quiet but thats not the case, if you edit the sound profile you will see that the ringtone has a default volume which is fairly low. It has a FM radio aswell which has very good reception and an internet which reaches very highspeeds. In some areas the phone can receive 3G+. The MP3 player is good and organises songs properly jsut like a walkman phone. Overall I would recommend this phone to anyone. It is definately worth the buy!

Comments

Advantages

Reliability

Disadvantages

An impressive phone that performs as good as it looks

I recently got my wife a Samsung U900 (also called U900 Soul) for her birthday to replace her ageing, scratch-laden Motorola. I have not had a good experience with previous Samsung models with touch-sensitive buttons but this one has really impressed me.

In my opinion, the most important thing about the styling of a phone is the quality of materials used and its finish. It is obvious that the U900 Soul has both these qualities. With an elegant metal body, the U900 exudes quality and class. The finish is top-notch and up there with the best of Nokia. At 12.9mm, the phone is quite thin and will fit nearly every pocket. It is fairly light at 112g and feels very nice and robust to hold. You can tell that the Samsung U900 has been built to last.

The USB connection and the charging port can be found on the left side on the phone and the microSD card slot is on the right hand side. They are both protected by very flimsy covers in stark contrast to the rest of the phone. There is a very discrete video calling camera on the front of the phone and the main camera is located at the top end of the back. It is kept well protected by the slide mechanism a it 'slides' down into the back cover.

The U900 is feature-packed and most of these features will never actually be used. The star feature is the 5-megapixel camera with autofocus, video recording and an LED flash. There is also a Band and Olufsen endorsed media player that thankfully supports all of the popular formats, including MP3, MP4 (video), WMA and AAC. A 2.2" 16 million colour screen sits on the face of the phone. Everything from the themes to the menus can be customised and you can even make your own theme. The phone supports 3G HSDPA which apparently offer quick web browsing. There also the usual array of features such as Bluetooth, microSD memory expansion, image editing software, calender and calculator.

The sound quality during calls is excellent and there is no problem whatsoever. The keypad is very well laid out with large buttons and metallic partitions between buttons. While it is also very flat, I had no problems in typing out text messages.

You may have noticed the Samsung's odd navigation system. Samsung calls it the magical touch interface and it works surprisingly well. The biggest improvement is the fact that you can adjust the sensitivity of the buttons which means that you can prevent the touch-sensitive button from being activated by mistake. The symbols of the screen of the navigation pad change depending on which menu you're in and they are generally very easy to understand. It is nicely lit using a cool blue effect lighting but the colours are sometimes different depending on which menu you are in. It is actually a very effective navigation system and makes navigating through menus very easy.

The quality of the camera is very good. I do not have another 5-megapixel mobile phone camera to compare it to but the pictures are actually very sharp and colours appropriately bright and vivid. It does not compare with my dedicated standalone digital camera (Canon Powershot S60) but comes close. The flash is LED and very rudimentary but it does slightly improve picture quality indoors.

The music player offers one of the best sound quality of any phone I've heard so far. Using stereo bluetooth headphones, I found the sound to be almost as good as the top mp3 players. You can sort tracks by album, artist, genre etc. and there are some 'sound effects' built in as well. The video player offers decent playback of your MP4 files but it makes great use of the navigation system as it allows you to easily pause, play, rewind and forward without going into any menu.

The themes are all very attractive and nearly everything including the menus and how numbers appear on-screen when you press them are customisable.

The 16 million colour display is very bright with great picture quality but in bright sunlight, it is hard to read like most other 16 million colour screens.

I've been unable to google up some stats for the battery life of this phone but my wife tells me that you have to charge it once every three days of average use (about an hour on mp3 player, sending/receiving around 50 minutes of calls, no significant use of camera).

Overall, I was very impressed by the Samsung U900 Soul. It is a really stylish, feature=packed phone that performs as well as it looks. I got myself a Nokia 6500 slide to replace my Nokia 6300 and this phone almost makes me regret my purchase. Those looking for an elegant and feature-packed phone on a contract would find the U900 an attractive proposition but those who want to buy a phone on pay as you go should look elsewhere.